Sunday, February 12, 2012

Bulls

From Christmas through Epiphany the airwaves in Costa Rica are dominated by one thing: Bulls. Whether they are being ridden, or simply chasing people around the ring they are Costa Rica's clearest cultural inheritance from Spain, and the closest thing to a national cultural event that this country has. The television spectacle (on both national channels) comes with a 5 person panel of comedians, former riders, and ranch owners, who comment on the action and cover any silences immediately with groans, laughs, yowls, or a popular song apparently named after a legendary bull from years past: 'El Zancudo Loco'.
The event is divided in two parts, the main event of having a man hold on to a leaping behemoth for dear life, and the outrageous time filler of having a slightly smaller bull chase costumed characters and drunk revelers around an enclosed circle. The most important people in the ring are dressed like Superman, Batman, and the entire cast of the 70's television show 'El Chavo del Ocho'. La Chilindra, without fail a man dressed up like a woman, is everyone's favorite, especially when he gets run down and the bull roots around in his skirt. Not content with flashes of antiquated popular culture there are frequently obstacles placed in the ring as well. A favorite seems to be the merry-go-round, but I get a kick out of the four way see-saws because it requires at least two people to recognize when the bull is going to charge to lift one unfortunate participant out of the path of its blunted horns; most often the bull gets frustrated and simply charges the see-saw, throwing everyone onto the ground in a pile. This past year Costa Rica's national bank and major department store both placed cardboard cut outs of cars and boats and trains with their logo prominently placed on the side in the ring, but these were abandoned when bull after bull flipped and then destroyed them in a matter of minutes.
Bull riding is much more suspenseful. One of the greatest differences between the Spanish bullfight and the Costa Rican rodeo is that in Costa Rica the bulls become famous: El Malacrianza, El Chirichi, El Coloradilla, El Soldado (I just asked my host father to tell me some famous bulls, and without pausing he rattled off this list). Because they survive from event to event they are far more interesting than the people who ride them, who frequently suffer serious injuries and so make up a rather transient bunch.
In a typical event the camera focuses in close on the top of the pen as the rider lowers himself onto the animal's back. Then he jumps off, the camera patiently watching his boots. Once he is back on again the bull starts bucking, throwing the rider against the metal poles that line his pen. This process can take upwards of 10 minutes, so it usually starts while the smaller bull is chasing people around. Once everything is ready and the other bull has been retired, the gate flies open and nearly a ton of muscle vaults out and begins spinning and jerking wildly. The bull has two cinches around its middle, the first is for the rider to hang on, and the one nearest the back keeps the back legs kicking together, effectively disabling the creature from running. Most riders fall off within 5 seconds, but some are able to ride until the bull slows down and stops. Serious injuries are surprisingly low, the most dangerous seems to be when successful riders have to dismount, because the bull frequently feels the change in weight and starts bucking and charging, frequently flipping the victorious rider onto the ground and then pawing at him. When I went to a bullring in a small town a few weeks ago the rider managed to tackle the bull around the neck with his legs, bringing them both crashing to the ground, the bull slightly more confused than the rider.
There are two different types of bulls as well, the ones used for the comic segment tend to be straightforward Western cattle, thick and essentially cow shaped. The riding bulls however are 'Brahma' bulls, featuring large humps above the shoulders, long flapping ears, and horns that tend to be more vertical than otherwise. These are the cows I associate with antiquity, they are featured in Babylonian carvings and Egyptian papyruses, and they seem far more noble, if similarly unintelligent. This second type is the most common in Costa Rica's lowlands, making nuisances of themselves by filling up school yards, blocking roadways, and devouring people's gardens.
My host sister's son is enthralled by watching these events, and he has taken to flipping over a chair in the front yard and sitting on the seat gyrating screaming 'la mano libre!' in emulation the bull riders on television. He still loves hopping up and down on his grandfather's legs gripping his knees so as not to be bucked, whooping and yelling all the while.
Last night as we were watching the trumpet sounded for the last bull, everyone's attention was riveted on the starting gate, except for one woman walking along peacefully directly in front of the bull pen. The doors flew open and the bull ran her over before either of them knew what was happening. The woman got up shakily, dusted herself off, and kept walking.